Horse welfare and ‘the three Fs’
A new RSPCA report this month highlights that many horses in the UK have a poor quality of life, much of this due to inexperienced owners rather than cruel ones. So what is it that horses need to be happy?
The crucial factors are what’s known as ‘the three Fs’, friends, freedom and forage. As herd animals, horses need company and interaction. Friends and family are every bit as important as they are to us, and that includes relationships with their humans too. To the horse, we are part of their herd, and as we see daily at Park Lane, they are uncannily skilful at reading humans’ minds. We are blessed to share our lives with such sensitive animals, but we owe it to them to try to tune in to them too if we’re to prevent stress or fear.
Freedom and forage are both about turnout – to have open space to run and to graze, with shelter when the weather requires it – yet suitable grazing in the UK is in short supply and expensive. Stables are great for short term stays, but not for the freedom to exercise (and have a good roll!) that are so important for a horse’s happiness. Imagine how you’d feel shut in a small cell for days, even if it was the height of luxury! Yet shockingly many horses don’t get turned out into fields where they can just be horses; they leave their stables only to be ridden. And fewer bridleways and more dangerous roads mean that riders increasingly ride in arenas rather than in open country.
We’re lucky at Park Lane Stables, horses are our lives, and they bring so much happiness that we want to keep them happy in return. Here’s how we do it:
F is for Friends
Spend any time around horses and you’ll notice their friendships in mutual grooming, nuzzling, and following. We have plenty of friendships in the herd – Prodney and Bella, Dougie and Jack, – and we keep them together as much as possible. Our horses stay with us for life, so friendships are long and give them stability. But Prodney and Natalie are great friends too, as are Spotty and David. We’re all part of the herd and we humans do our best to understand all our herd mates.
F is for Freedom
Turned out in Surrey our horses can just get on with being horses. Several visits every day from us ensure they have the right feed to supplement the natural forage, fresh water, supplements to help keep joints mobile, and any medications. And we check that nobody is showing signs of lameness or feeling poorly so that we can act swiftly if we need to. They’re free to wander, interact, and roll just as they please. This neat video (below) tracks Spotty doing just that over 24 hours. (That’s the hay feeder he keeps returning to on the right!)
They may not have the same obvious freedom when they’re in Teddington, but they do have the wide open spaces of Bushy Park, the chance to run, and the stimulating sights and smells of the park and its wildlife and water. Stimulation is as important for horses as it is for humans – you may remember videos of ponies in the field running up to meet us when we bring the horsebox down to collect horses for Teddington. ‘Take me! My turn!’
F is for Forage
Horses need to eat all the time, it’s called grazing for a reason. They’re huge animals to be fuelled by grass! But they can’t just be left in a field to get on with it. Grass quickly turns to mud in wet weather, some horses have sensitive stomachs and need supplementary feed, some are prone to laminitis (a painful and serious hoof condition which can be caused by too much rich grass), and some (like Prodney) have no teeth and rely on nutritious mash.
In other words, we keep it as natural as possible but supplement as needed, especially in the winter months.
If you’d like to read more about the new RSPCA report there’s a great article about it in Horse and Hound
Caring well for our horses comes at a cost and we rely on donations to cover that. There are plenty of ways you can help, from gifting us something from our Amazon wishlist, to sponsoring a pony, to making a donation. See our Donate page for options.